Blair speaks in support of the Northern Ireland peace process while visiting Armagh in September 1998.

In British politics, Blairism is the political ideology of Tony Blair, the former leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007, and those that support him, known as Blairites. It entered the New Penguin English Dictionary in 2000.[1] Elements of the ideology include investment in public services, expansionary efforts in education to encourage social mobility, and increased actions in terms of mass surveillance alongside a ramping up of law enforcement powers, both of these latter changes advocated in the context of fighting organized crime and terrorism. Blairites have additionally been known for their contrast with the traditional support for socialism by those believing in left-wing politics, with Blair himself and others speaking out against the nationalisation of major industries and against also heavy regulations of business operations.

Ideology

U.S. President Bill Clinton (left) meets with Prime Minister Blair (right) in November 1999, with the American leader being a close political partner given their mutual Atlanticist views and shared emphasis on the Special Relationship.

Politically, Blair has been identified with record investment into public services, an interventionist and Atlanticist foreign policy, support for stronger law enforcement powers, a large focus on surveillance as a means to address terrorism and a large focus on education as a means to encourage social mobility. In the early years (circa 1994–1997), Blairism was also associated with support for European integration and particularly British participation in the European single currency, though this waned after Labour took office.

The term is used in particular in contrast to Brownite, to identify those within the Labour Party who supported Gordon Brown rather than Blair. However, with Blair and Brown typically in agreement on most political issues[2] (from Iraq to public sector reform), some commentators have noted that "the difference between Brownites and Blairites [...] is more tribal than ideological".[3] This is believed to stem from a personal disagreement between Blair and Brown over who should run for the leadership following the death of John Smith in 1994. Though Brown was originally considered the senior of the two, he waited until after Smith's funeral to begin campaigning, by which point Blair had gathered too much momentum to be defeated.[4] However, in his book Whatever it Takes, Steve Richards offered an alternate view: that there were significant disagreements between the two about relative poverty, the level of public spending and the potential for choice in public services.[5]

In a 1999 article, The Economist stated:

Mr Blair will doubtless do his duty and lavish praise on Labour's glorious past. But, in truth, Mr Blair has always displayed a marked ambivalence towards Labour history. His greatest achievement in opposition was to get the party to ditch their historic commitment to nationalisation, and to water down its traditional links with the unions. At times he has even hinted that the very foundation of the Labour Party was a mistake, since it divided "progressive" politics and led to a century dominated by the Conservatives. Mr Blair knows that all this makes many of his party faithful deeply uneasy.[6]

Blair's tenure is known for an expansion of LGBT rights, such as the introduction of civil partnerships. Blair told the LGBT organisation Stonewall that "what has happened is that the culture of the country has changed in a definable way" and that "it's a thing that doesn't just give me a lot of pride, but it has actually brought a lot of joy". Blair has also stated that he got up off his seat and danced upon seeing the first civil partnership ceremonies on television.[7]

Relationship to prior administrations

The Daily Telegraph stated in April 2008 that Blair's programme, with its emphasis on "New Labour", accepted the free-market ideology of Thatcherism. The article cited deregulation, privatisation of key national industries, maintaining a flexible labour market, marginalising the role of trade unions and devolving government decision making to local authorities as evidence. He also sought a closer, better relationship with Europe, and considered joining the Euro currency, but Gordon Brown was not in favour.[8]

In the BBC Four documentary film Tory! Tory! Tory!, Blair is described as personally admiring Margaret Thatcher deeply and making the decision that she would be the first outside person he formally invited to visit him in 10 Downing Street.[9]

Former Conservative Prime Minister John Major, who Blair defeated in a landslide at the 1997 general election; was one of the original figures behind the Northern Ireland peace process that Blair continued and both of them campaigned together in support of the Good Friday Agreement.

Blair privately called Thatcher "unhinged", a description that later became public knowledge.[10] Blair criticised the Thatcher government's record on poverty and made that a key issue for Labour economic policy. He made the goal to eradicate child poverty in Britain within 20 years based on the fact that one-third of British children were in poverty post-Thatcher compared to the 9% rate in 1979 (although these statistics are disputed).[6]

In a 2001 speech to a Conservative election rally, Thatcher called New Labour 'rootless and soulless' saying at least Old Labour stood for certain principles, that respected them, and also said Blair does not truly believe in liberty. She also claimed the Labour government would give up the British pound to join the Euro.[11]

Blair also abolished Section 28 and created more pro-European initiatives compared to Thatcher.

In his 2010 autobiography, A Journey, Blair remarked:

In what caused much jarring and tutting within the party, I even decided to own up to supporting changes Margaret Thatcher had made. I knew the credibility of the whole New Labour project rested on accepting that much of what she wanted to do in the 1980s was inevitable, a consequence not of ideology but of social and economic change. The way she did it was often very ideological, sometimes unnecessarily so, but that didn't alter the basic fact: Britain needed the industrial and economic reforms of the Thatcher period.[12]

Relationship to later administrations

Gordon Brown succeeded Blair as Prime Minister after Brown's long tenure as the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Although viewed in the media as somewhat personally close, Blair later wrote in his autobiography A Journey that a "maddening" Brown effectively blackmailed him while he was in 10 Downing Street. Blair accused Brown of orchestrating the investigation into the Cash-for-Honours scandal and stated that the personal animosity was so strong that it led him to frequent drinking, a big change for Blair. Blair also has told journalist Andrew Marr that as their years working together went on, co-operation became "hard going on impossible".[13]

Tony Blair criticised the departure from much of New Labour ideology under Gordon Brown's premiership, who blamed it for Labour's defeat in the 2010 UK General Election:

Why did Labour lose the 2010 election? The answer to that, I’m afraid is obvious. Labour won when it was New Labour. It lost because it stopped being New Labour...Had he [Brown] pursued New Labour policy, the personal issue would still have made victory tough, but it wouldn’t have been impossible. Departing from New Labour made it so. Just as the 2005 election was one we were never going to lose, 2010 was one we were never going to win – once the fatal strategic decision was taken to abandon the New Labour position.[14]

Impact on the Labour Party

The Labour Party leadership of Jeremy Corbyn was seen as a departure from Blairism, and a return of Old Labour, and was described as a 'return of the 1940s Labour Party' by The Guardian, with its emphasis on re-nationalisation of energy, water, and railways and massive public investment in housing and the NHS. Jeremy Corbyn was critical of Blair's involvement in Iraq and voted against it at the time, garnering much support particularly from the youth vote. Labour increased its vote share by over 9% in 2017, costing Theresa May her majority in Parliament, but with the party split by Brexit policy and identitarian infighting, it lost the 2019 election to Boris Johnson's Conservatives.[15]

Since the election of Keir Starmer as Leader of the Labour Party in 2020, some in the British media have noted the ideological shift from the left back to the centre, allowing comparisons to be drawn between the current policy platform of the Labour Party and its Shadow Ministers (some of whom served in the cabinets of Blair and Brown) and that of New Labour.[16]

The November 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle was seen to be giving more power to Blairites in the Parliamentary Labour Party. This was criticised by former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell.[17] In May 2022, on the 25th anniversary of Labour's landslide victory in the 1997 election, Blair in a video looked back at the victory and his achievements and showed his support for Starmer.

The 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle was seen as giving even more power to Blairites within the Labour Party.[18]

Blairites

Other than Blair himself, the following prominent Labour politicians are often considered Blairites, but may not identify themselves as such:

Alastair Campbell
Lord Mandelson
Ruth Kelly
David Miliband

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Ezard, John (4 August 2000). "Blairism, noun: very difficult to define". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  2. ↑ How to bear Blair: become a Blairite Will Hutton, Guardian Unlimited – Comment is free, 21 June 2006
  3. ↑ Jack the Knife goes for the clearout kill Kirsty Milne, The Scotsman, 28 November 2001
  4. ↑ Will he? Won't he? Suzie Mackenzie, The Guardian, 25 September 2004
  5. ↑ Nick Cohen, The Guardian, 3 October 2010
  6. 1 2 "Tony Blair's war on poverty". The Economist. 23 September 1999. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "Blair proud of gay rights record". BBC News. 22 March 2007.
  8. ↑ "Margaret Thatcher, inspiration to New Labour". The Daily Telegraph. London. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  9. ↑ BBC Four, Tory! Tory! Tory!
  10. ↑ Iain Dale (19 August 2010). "In conversation with... Matthew Parris". Total Politics. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2011. I think he was unhinged. That's the same word Tony Blair used of Margaret Thatcher. I think Tony Blair was a bit unhinged too. I think Margaret Thatcher had her unhinged moments.
  11. ↑ Speech to Conservative Election Rally in Plymouth ("The Mummy Returns")
  12. ↑ Tony Blair (2010). A Journey. Random House. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-307-37578-0.
  13. ↑ "Tony Blair: Gordon Brown tried to blackmail me". The Daily Telegraph. 1 September 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  14. ↑ Heppell, Timothy (2013). "The Fall of the Brown Government, 2010". How Labour Governments Fall: From Ramsay MacDonald to Gordon Brown. The Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 141–149. ISBN 978-1-137-31421-5.
  15. ↑ "Jeremy Corbyn's Labour manifesto harks back to 1940s | Larry Elliott". The Guardian. 21 November 2019.
  16. ↑ "Keir Starmer is an unconvincing Blairite with an authenticity problem | John Rentoul". The Independent. London. 8 August 2021.
  17. ↑ John McDonnell [@johnmcdonnellMP] (29 November 2021). "Reviving the careers of former Blairite ministers & simply reappointing existing Shadow Cabinet ministers to new posts does give the impression of Christmas Past not Christmas Future" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. ↑ Chaplain, Chloe (4 September 2023). "Keir Starmer purges soft left and surrounds himself with Blairites for General Election push". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  19. ↑ "Alastair Campbell's principles for politics today". The Economist.
  20. ↑ Nisbet, Robert (30 October 2015). "Ex-Labour Peer Delighted To Head Tory Project". Sky News. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 Anthony Seldon (4 September 2008). Blair Unbound. Simon and Schuster. p. 334. ISBN 978-1-84739-499-6.
  22. ↑ Morris, Nigel (12 May 2003). "Amos takes post as first black woman in Cabinet". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  23. ↑ Greer, Germaine (18 May 2003). "The Westminster pack has the scent of its favourite prey again". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  24. 1 2 3 4 "Where the Blairite loyalties lie". The Daily Telegraph. London. 14 May 2006. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  25. ↑ Peter Dwyer; Sandra Shaw (15 March 2013). An Introduction to Social Policy. SAGE Publications. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-4462-8084-3.
  26. 1 2 3 4 Hennessy, Patrick; Kite, Melissa (6 June 2009). "Revealed: how Cabinet Blairites plotted to topple Brown". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  27. 1 2 Helm, Toby; Hinsliff, Gaby (3 May 2009). "Hazel Blears savages Gordon Brown over 'lamentable' failures". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  28. 1 2 "What happened to the Blairites?". BBC News. 30 March 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  29. 1 2 Coates, Sam (4 August 2008). "Blairites plot to hasten Gordon Brown's exit". The Times. London. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  30. ↑ Sawer, Patrick (14 November 2009). "Stephen Byers: the ultra-Blairite who was a constant thorn in Gordon Brown's side". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 17 November 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  31. 1 2 3 Porter, Andrew; Kirkup, James (3 September 2008). "Charles Clarke: Labour heading for 'utter destruction' under Gordon Brown". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  32. 1 2 Feeny, David (9 May 2015). "Labour must return to 'aspirational Blair years', say senior party figures". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  33. ↑ "Ben Bradshaw: Glad to be 'more Wagner than Wenger'". The Independent. London. 27 June 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  34. ↑ "Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw defies Labour whip on economy vote". Western Morning News. 14 October 2015. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  35. ↑ Wilkinson, Michael (24 July 2015). "Andy Burnham aide 'dismissing women' in Labour leadership sexism row". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  36. ↑ Steven Foster (2006). The Judiciary, Civil Liberties and Human Rights. Edinburgh University Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-7486-2262-7.
  37. ↑ Thomson, Alice; Sylvester, Rachel (23 May 2009). "Caroline Flint defends Hazel Blears in expenses row". The Times. London. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  38. ↑ Waugh, Paul; Cecil, Nicholas (4 June 2009). "Loyalists urge PM to sack Flint amid fears she will quit". Evening Standard. London. Archived from the original on 9 May 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  39. ↑ "Tom Harris". The Telegraph.
  40. 1 2 Mulholland, Hélène (6 January 2010). "Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt call for secret ballot to settle leadership debate". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  41. ↑ "Blair's reshuffle could bring policy shifts". New Straits Times. 30 July 1998. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  42. ↑ Curtis, Polly (10 June 2010). "Margaret Hodge named head of public accounts committee". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  43. ↑ Young, Toby. "Well done Tristram Hunt. Chalk one up for the Hons!". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  44. ↑ Wintour, Patrick (14 September 2011). "Labour party maps out a purple path to power". The Guardian. London.
  45. ↑ "Owen Smith wants Labour to remember its Blairite heritage". 16 September 2016.
  46. 1 2 Grice, Andrew (29 June 2007). "Andrew Grice: We are all Brownites now, say the Blairites with relief". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 20 May 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  47. ↑ Assinder, Nick (19 March 2007). "Blair and Brown look to future". BBC News. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  48. ↑ Ballinger, Alex (2 July 2017). "Bristol's newest MP just revealed his political hero, and it's controversial". Bristol Post. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  49. ↑ Andrew Rawnsley (30 September 2010). The End of the Party. Penguin Books Limited. p. 457. ISBN 978-0-14-196970-1.
  50. ↑ Kennedy, Siobhan (25 September 2008). "Ruth Kelly: chequered career of the Blairite star who fell to earth". The Times. London. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  51. ↑ Leftly, Mark (16 May 2015). "Sadiq Khan wins Blairite Baroness Oona King's support in race to be London mayor". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  52. ↑ Barkham, Patrick (13 September 2007). "How Oona got her groove back". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  53. ↑ Steven Kettell (14 May 2006). Dirty Politics?: New Labour, British Democracy and the War in Iraq. Zed Books. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-84277-741-1.
  54. ↑ Kristina Riegert (2007). Politicotainment: Television's Take on the Real. Peter Lang. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-8204-8114-2.
  55. ↑ Oona King (18 February 2013). House Music: The Oona King Diaries. A&C Black. p. 238. ISBN 978-1-4088-3728-3.
  56. 1 2 Richards, Steve (18 October 1999). "The Blairites reign supreme". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 1 January 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  57. 1 2 Daley, Janet (11 January 2009). "Return of the Blairites spells trouble for David Cameron". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  58. 1 2 Routledge, Paul (13 November 2009). "Pompous Blairites like David Miliband and Peter Mandelson make me cringe". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  59. ↑ "Is Wes Streeting the next Labour leader?". New Statesman. 25 January 2022.
  60. ↑ "Estelle Morris: classroom to cabinet". BBC News. 8 June 2001.
  61. ↑ Hencke, David (4 June 2009). "Which cabinet ministers are supporting Gordon Brown?". The Guardian. London.
  62. ↑ Morris, Nigel (29 June 2007). "First woman at the Home Office: Jacqui Smith". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 11 April 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2010. A more fluid approach is needed.
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